Michael Vickery Photographing Cambodia in the 1960s-1980s
by Michael Vickery
Cambodia before the civll war as seen by anthropologist and historian Michael Vickery.
Author: Michael Vickery
In October 2018, Phnom Penh based Bophana Center and the French Institute hosted an exhibition of some 61 photos taken by ethnologist and historian Michael Vickery in the 1960s, around Cambodia.
Kept by Vickery’s adopted daughter, Amemu Saeju, these photographs showed the author’s interest in the life of ethnic minorities, in particular in the Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri areas.
More recently, we have found other photographs kept at the ข้อมูลโครงการฐานข้อมูลจดหมายเหตุมานุษยวิทยา (Anthropological Archive Database), an online project run by the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre (SAC). They give us a precious testimony of Cambodia’s daily life nbefore the war, and the spiritual and emotional connection with Angkor.
Tags: photography, anthropology, history, Modern Cambodia, ethnic minorities, Khmer culture, Khmer New Year, dance, daily life
About the Photographer
Michael Vickery
Michael Vickery (April 1 1931, Billings, Montana, June 29 2017, Battambang, Cambodia) was an American historian and lecturer with a passion for Cambodia.
His doctoral thesis research in Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia lasted from 1970 to 1977, when he completed it under the title Cambodia After Angkor: The Chronicular Evidence for the Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries. That same year, Vickery received a Doctor of Philosophy in history from Yale University.
Known for his liberal views, he later specialized in history of modern Cambodia, contributed numerous columns for the Phnom Penh Post from 1992 to 2007. He also taught Ancient History at the Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA) in Phnom Penh.